by USA TODAY

by USA TODAY

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Greece's prime minister says he's determined to avoid early elections despite a deep rift with a junior coalition partner over the closure of state TV.

Antonis Samaras says he wants to continue with both of his center-left allies.

But Samaras said early Friday he will proceed "however" necessary after the Democratic Left party rejected his compromise bid to restart state TV and radio broadcasts.

He added that his other ally, Socialist Pasok, has accepted his proposal. With Pasok, Samaras' conservatives have a slim parliamentary majority that would allow the government to pass key reforms demanded by bailout creditors.

Samaras said that while nobody wants early elections one year into the coalition's mandate, lack of governance is equally undesirable.

"We have three years left and we will see them through," he said.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All
rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.